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To: kosta50; Kolokotronis; jo kus; annalex
FK: "Therefore, there was a time before the action took place [the begetting of the divine Christ]".

God existed before time. His existence cannot be expressed in terms of time, ... God does not fall under physical laws; His presence is not limited by the speed of light. He is ever-present yesterday, today and tomorrow.

I have no problem with things of God being beyond our comprehension. I know that's true. Maybe my beef is with the use of the word "beget". I don't think I have any problem with "proceed from" since that doesn't imply to me the pre-existence of one over another. Are those terms the same?

3,057 posted on 02/27/2006 7:54:01 PM PST by Forest Keeper
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To: Forest Keeper; Kolokotronis; Agrarian; annalex; jo kus; Cronos
Maybe my beef is with the use of the word "beget". I don't think I have any problem with "proceed from" since that doesn't imply to me the pre-existence of one over another. Are those terms the same?

Most definitely they are not the same. The Greek word for "begetting" (as Kolo demonstrated in one of his posts, using Greek alphabet) is rooted in the word to "generate." Your words are generated, energized, projected reflections of your mind. Because it is a one-way process, it is akin to sonship. The Word does not generate the Wisdom, but rather the Wisdom generates the Word. In the case of God, that generation, like the well and water, is eternal and transcendental. It is true yesterday, today and forever before all times and beyond. So, one can not ascribe a "moment" to the Wisdom generating the Word. It can never be an accomplished or initiated

You are still bound by physical and temporal chains and think of God in human terms. We can only think of God in human terms when we think of Jesus Christ.

3,065 posted on 02/28/2006 4:31:04 AM PST by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: Forest Keeper; kosta50; Kolokotronis; annalex
Maybe my beef is with the use of the word "beget".

FK, You are using the human idea of begeting a human son and applying it to the Word of God. Look to the Creed: "{the Son is} Eternally begotten of the Father. God from God, light from light, true God from true God - Begotten, not made"

The Son is eternally being "begotten". His being begotten transcends time, because "eternally" doesn't mean a really long time - it means ALL time in one moment. As to the Spirit, also, there never was a time when the Father and Son were and the Spirit was not! Proceeding and begeting are human terms that attempt to describe what occurs within the Divine Godhead - which is outside of time and man's experience.

Regards

3,068 posted on 02/28/2006 4:42:57 AM PST by jo kus
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